


burning the midnight oil

by ladyoftheunderground



Category: Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 - Malloy
Genre: F/F, and i hope to contribute, and the first time ever here, anyway they are gay and sleepy, i hope I'm doing this right, it's a modern and implied college au, this is my first time publishing a fic in forever, this ship needs more content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2019-01-22 05:29:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12474520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyoftheunderground/pseuds/ladyoftheunderground
Summary: Of course - when given the chance - Sonya Rostova would spend her night with a certain Mary instead of her psychology paper. Only, she would never let it go unfinished either.





	burning the midnight oil

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy the story (and I apologize, in advance, for any potential errors.) <3

Sonya should have heard the shuffling, or the familiar creaking of the floorboards right outside of the bedroom, but the caffeine she'd eagerly consumed since tucking Mary away in bed seemed to be impairing her awareness. Or maybe it was just the time that she dared not look at. Or perhaps the daze that had overtaken her shortly after opening her fourth account of Rosenthal's experiment, and the unadulterated disinterest that accompanied. Or everything at once- that seemed plausible enough. 

She was entirely preoccupied with her work, as she had been for nearly an hour. Although, in all fairness, it could hardly be called work any longer. She stared at the too-bright screen, struggling to make sense of the last paragraph she had written. Occasionally, she would delete a bit, only to add it back, verbatim, moments later. The progress was truly unprecedented. 

Reason told her that it was well beyond time to go to sleep, and she wanted little more than just that. The only thing keeping her up was an arbitrary promise she made to herself before her quasi date night with Mary. She enjoyed herself, worry-free, with the condition that she would finish at least the first portion of her paper before heading to bed. 

Earlier, Sonya attempted to make popcorn and they watched a movie together - some cheesy romantic comedy that Natasha lent Sonya a few months before. Though it was not her first choice, she at least enjoyed watching Mary’s reactions. The way her nose scrunched up when she giggled, oh, Sonya was done for. Realistically, there had been very little movie watching towards the end, but neither of them seemed to care. It was well past midnight when Sonya climbed into bed with Mary, if only for a few minutes. 

A slight hiccup gave Mary away and brought Sonya back to her senses, nearly sending her into cardiac arrest. She jumped back in her seat, losing control of her laptop for a split second, and placed a hand to her heart. "Goodness, Mary. You can't sneak up on me like that. It startled me," she gave a soft nervous laugh and shifted further into the sofa. She'd also told her girlfriend that she would not do exactly what she currently was doing. 

"Sonyushka..." Mary murmured, pausing by the opposite end of the couch. Her eyelids drooped, and she still had a peaceful sleepiness about her. It was absolutely adorable. "My dear, it is terribly late." She paused a second, twiddling with her fingers, "I woke up and you weren't next to me. I worried -," she shrugged her shoulders lazily, this wasn't about her really. "It is late and you should be asleep." Her words became clearer and more articulate little by little. "Whatever this work is can wait." 

Sonya chewed on her bottom lip as Mary spoke, already feeling guilt build up in her chest- for abandoning Mary, for contributing to her current loss of sleep, for even the slightest lie. "Masha, I appreciate your concern, and I apologize for getting back up, but this paper does have to be finished. I think I may have underestimated what I had left to complete." There was only some truth in that. In all honesty, she made a conscious decision to spend the evening with Mary, even if it meant some additional stress in finishing the assignment. Mary was undoubtedly worth it. "I won't be able to sleep until I get through at least this section." To emphasize her dedication to finishing, Sonya took a long, shuddering sip of bitter lukewarm coffee from her mug - a starry blue one that Mary found for her at a craft fair. It had quickly become one of her prized possessions. 

After considering, and in no state to argue, Mary sighed. "Then I will wait up with you," she decided, taking a seat next to her girlfriend and curling up. It was a smart move. Getting Mary to go back to sleep would be the incentive that Sonya couldn't provide for herself. She doubted that was the conscious intention, but it was effective all the same. Mary was probably just staying up out of the sweetness in her heart, just to provide some company. Either way, it motivated Sonya and reminded her just how good her girlfriend was. Frankly though, the last bit was hard to forget under any circumstance. 

"Please go back to bed. I will be there shortly. Just- just a few more sentences. Promise?" Sonya hastily extended her hand as if to seal a deal. When Mary refused with a pointed look, Sonya relented, knowing that argument would get them nowhere at this hour. "Better get back to work then," she sighed, mostly to herself. 

Even half asleep on the couch, Mary was a strong motivator, and Sonya was nearing the end of her final assertion when she spoke again. 

"I love you," Mary's voice was soft, but her eyebrows were knit together, almost as if she was confused. "I love that you chose to spend the night with me, knowing you would have to do this." Sonya opened her mouth to refute, but was cut off with a hush. "Don't try that, you don't underestimate your work and we both know that. Let me finish-" She paused to remember her previous train of thought, "I love that you work so hard and sacrifice your precious time for me. I love the way you light up, and that little smirk you get when you hear something clever, or the different smirk you get when you think of something clever. Oh, there is just so much to love about you." She shook her head, as if overwhelmed by the notion, and then gasped, seemingly making a new observation. "Your hair- I love your hair. It is so red. So beautiful. You are so beautiful and I- what are you doing?" 

Sonya had abruptly shut her laptop, messily clambered over to Mary, and took her face in her hands. "I was going to kiss you if that was okay," she explained lamely, almost bordering on embarrassed. It wasn't as if they hadn't kissed before, she was just lacking her usual coordination and tact. Before she could explain further, Mary closed the distance between the two. The kiss was sleepy and Mary caught a tangle in Sonya's hair as she carded her fingers through her soft waves, but it was nice. 

"You taste like coffee," Mary laughed, pressing their foreheads together.

"And you taste like toothpaste," Sonya wrinkled her nose, but couldn't help her laughter. 

"A lovely combination," Mary teased, keeping close. 

"The loveliest." Sonya pulled away from Mary's embrace with a laugh and quickly consolidated her materials to the center of the coffee table. "Alright, no more work for me," she declared with a dramatically decisive nod, "Back to bed?" Mary nodded, and the two shuffled back to the bedroom, taking their respective sides. Within moments, Sonya was curled against Mary with an arm around her waist. 

"My Mashunya," Sonya whispered into her girlfriend's shoulder, "I love you more than anything in this world, and I -" she stopped herself when she heard faint snoring. “And I will finish telling you in the morning just how much I love you,” and with that, she allowed herself to fall asleep, reveling in her luck and love.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for taking the time to read! I really hope you enjoyed. Comments and any constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated!


End file.
